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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Everyone loves banana bread, don't they? I adapted this recipe from one published by Gourmet magazine back in the late '70s. I like my banana bread to taste like it has bananas in it. Thus my sequential photos of when the bananas are just right: the first - not even close.

nope, still not ready.

OK, this is close enough. (Any further and I'll probably lose my readers, lol. )The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups banana puree and I'm sure I'm a little short, but it'll be as it will be this time.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Then measure out 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar.

Grab two eggs.

Measure out 1/2 cup water to which you've added 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Next, into a sieve (or flour sifter) measure 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 Tablespoons buttermilk powder. (I think the original recipe called for 1/2 cup buttermilk, so if you prefer that, then omit the 1/2 c. water and the 2 T. buttermilk powder.) Sift and then stir this all together and set aside.

OK, now we're ready to roll. Grab a stick of butter (should be softened, or at least at room temp) and a stick is 1/4 pound, or 4 ounces, or 1/2 cup - whichever you're accustomed to calling it. Cream the butter with the sugar.

I'm impatient, and I'm glad I don't have to use a wooden spoon like in 'them thar olden days' so I use my electric mixer. And I probably don't cream it sufficiently to please a master baker. I still have a somewhat grainy texture, not a smooth and cream-y texture...doesn't bother me. Once you've creamed the butter and sugar, take those bananas out of their peels and mash them in a bowl, they don't have to be pretty, they'll get mixed in with that electric mixer.

Don't those super-ripe bananas look great...they have so much flavor, and sugar content at this point...and almost an alcohol fragrance.

Then, add your eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Once the eggs have been incorporated, start adding your flour alternately with your liquid (either the water & vanilla, or the buttermilk)...

beginning with the flour and ending with the flour. I usually add about 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 the liquid, the next 1/3 of the flour, the last of the liquid, then the last of the flour.

Mix until the flour is incorporated - no dry clumps. At this point, if you like nuts in your banana bread, they can be added. 1/2 c. chopped walnuts. Nick is allergic to peanuts so avoids all nuts and I don't really like nuts in my banana bread so I leave them out, most of the time. If I'm making two, I'll add them to one because Marty likes it with nuts.

ummmm, it already smells like banana bread...

Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 12" x 4 1/2" x 3" loaf pan. If you don't have one like this, I'm sure a regular bread pan will work just fine.

Spread the batter so that it's fairly even across the length of the pan.

Place in preheated oven for 1 hour, yes, that long, that's a full 60 minutes ... test with a cake tester to assure doneness, sometimes it takes a little longer.

When tester comes out clean, turn oven off, open door and leave the bread in the oven for 10 minutes. Please ignore that dirty oven.

Remove from oven, place on cooling rack leaving bread in the pan for another 10 minutes.

Turn out onto rack to cool completely....

or, if you're as impatient as I am after an hour and a half of smelling this yummy deliciousness, then slice off a piece or two and smear my other favorite food onto it...yes, butter is food.

Side note: I had so much trouble with getting this to structure right. I sure wish that the way I'm typing and adding photos looked the same after I post as it does when I'm doing it, which is complicated enough!...and that while I'm trying to compose that the photos wouldn't disappear (or were easily recovered if they do) when I backspace one too many times or in the wrong spot. I think I need a Blogger For Dummies book :)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The stories this barn could tell. I don't know when it was built, and it is now completely gone. This is probably the last picture ever taken of it, and taken from the road with a zoom lens. My childhood was spent knowing this barn very well. Hay was stored in it. The cow was milked in it. The barn cats were attempted to be tamed in it. The horses and cattle found shelter and were fed under it's wings. Hay was carried and dropped from an upper gangway into the feeding racks. The dirt and manure under the wings was hard and dry in the summer and soaked and sloppy in the winter...my boots were well-acquainted! Forts were built amongst the hay bales. It was an escape place when there was anger or frustration. It was down the hill from the house (house was to the left). There was a pole light between the house and the barn. How many times, in the mud and slop, did I slip down that hill and land on my behind in the wet goo? How many times did I struggle to get my boot out of the sucking mud and manure. How pretty was it when the snow fell on it and the surrounding hillsides and trees. Wonderful memories, now only just that...memories. Michelle posted about a barn, that's what prompted this memory. (She referenced this site.) Her post also shows mossy oaks, which we had in as well. We had a huge one on the house side of the pasture fence. It's now gone too, a casualty of snow and ice in recent years. And the house, it's also gone, casualty of a fire on Valentine's day back in the '80s making it all the more, just a memory.

We have a new addition to our family. She looks to be between 6 - 8 weeks old. A neighbor brought her over last night and said he'd found her about a week ago when she ran across a road in front of him. She's very sweet. I, personally, don't think she has the prettiest eyes - to me they look crossed (Lord, may she NOT be part Siamese!), but she has the cutest little muzzle and facial markings. Nick wants to name her Raven. I called her Pipsqueak. She may learn to be just "Kitty". Whether she remains or not still isn't definite...she needs a healthcheck at the vets. I noticed she has a lump (maybe swollen glands?) under her left ear/chin area. Fanner is not happy, she hisses - even at us now. And that's where it's a hard thing...I wasn't ready to adopt a new kitty yet, not with knowing we'll likely be putting her down soon. She (Fanner) was in and out of the litter box today and seeming to strain with no result. And the poor thing can't tell us that she's in pain or not. I did give her one of the six pain doses we have, but I couldn't tell any difference even hours later other than she did finally go to sleep. But then she had a seizure so she's pacing all over the house and hissing even more, and she ate over half a can of food - that's normal post-seizure and she'll stay hissy and agitated for at least 8 hours. Sometimes I think we should have taken care of this nasty decision months ago ... before Nick's birthday, before the holidays. It'll be very hard to not have this cat with us anymore. We have loved her probably more than any other cat we, or I, have ever had. And one, Aja, I had for 16 yrs before she was attacked by a pack of rogue dogs and had to be euthanized. Aja was special to me too, she was probably only 4 - 5 wks old when I got her...on the way to the pound...and could barely drink milk from a bowl on her own.

Monday, November 28, 2011

It has some lovely stuff in it: a 3-part mystery quilt (my subscription expires with the next issue so if I were to do it, I'd have to remember to go buy the last issue), a lesson on tying a quilt...by machine!, a pretty batiks pattern (not my thing, but it is pretty and could be done in other colors/fabrics), a very nice log cabin, an article on color balancing, a valentine's wall art quilt, a blue and cream 'leaf' tessellation quilt (oooh, aaahhh I want to do it), and a whole bunch of other projects :) This magazine is probably in my top three, maybe top two. My favorite-est quilting magazine is The Quilter Magazine.

Many, many years ago, when Victoria was just a little girl in the early 1980s, I thought I'd try working part time as an in-home craft demonstrator/salesperson for Artcraft Concepts. I think I lasted about a year. I found, as maybe others did, that as a 'consultant' I turned most of my profits back to the company by purchasing more and more kits. And it didn't help, that about the time you'd finish making a kit up for demo purposes, the company would discontinue that kit and come out with a new one. Sure, I got them at a deeply-discounted rate from retail, but I still had to make the kit before I could display the product! As far as the kits themselves, I loved them. They were great quality and the company was great at sending out additional yarn or thread or whatever if you didn't have sufficient for whatever reason. I made one of their latch-hook rug kits - a snowy scene that I still use as a cover on an ottoman...even when it isn't winter or Christmas. I was in the midst of a divorce toward the end, and gave up on trying to do this as a business and went to work for a big aerospace firm with a steady income.

This project (below) is called "Magi Christmas Classic". It was first published as a kit in 1978. I bought mine (as a special discontinued offering) in 1983. I didn't begin working on it until Jan. 2006. Until recently I'd been keeping it in the door pocket of my car to work on while I waited for Nick to get out of school and while sitting in the car pick-up line. I don't have to wait in that line anymore, and I get to the school only a few minutes before he's out so thus have no time to work on this there. I decided I'd take it out and work on it while I watch television.

This is the floss that came with the project. I cut slits in a piece of cardboard and numbered them accordingly.

Obviously, this is the color key for the floss, and the color placement chart for the printed fabric. I highlight as I go, it makes it easier.

The project measures 14"x14" finished. What you see in the hoop (an 8" hoop) is all that was done at the time of this photo. Since then, I have done the upper portion of the robe on the one to the left of this one. It's done in the purple, and is a stem stitch, which is the main stitch used on the characters. I don't think it'll be finished for this Christmas, and then what I'll do with it when it's done has yet to be decided. It was intended to be a framed wall art, but as with a couple other Artcraft projects I did, I may intend to put it as a medallion in a wall quilt and/or table topper.

Did you know that "three" wise men (Magi) is not in Scripture? It's true. There is only the mention of "wise men from the east bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh", and from those three gifts came the errant notion of 3 wise men. There may have only been two, but then again, there may have been six or eight and yes, the possibility of only 3 is still there too. Truth is, we aren't told. And Scripture certainly didn't tell us their names. I'm not sure where the names came from. Regardless of how many or few, it's most likely also that they traveled in a large caravan and maybe not even on camels but swift horses. The route they likely would have taken would have been dangerous with robbers, and carrying an amount of gold - tempting to say the least. Unless one has read and studied Scripture and really paid attention to it, one would blindly go on believing many of the songs composed (with a LOT of error) right along with greeting card depictions of those same errors. Another error is the nativity where we often see the wise men on bended knee with their gifts at the manger. Nope. They weren't there. They likely hadn't even embarked on their journey until after He was born and the saw the star to guide them. Herod met with the magi to determine when Christ would have been born...the magi went to "a house" (not a stable) so the family was already 'home' ...Herod wanted to destroy the Child and thus his order to kill all the male children in and around Bethlehem from two years and younger (Jesus may have been as old as 2 by the time this all happened - remember, Herod inquired of the Magi as to when the Christ was born - Herod issued this order after discovering the wise men learned from God Herod's scheme to kill the Child, which had been removed to Egypt with Mary and Joseph for protection. In Scripture at this point He is referred to as "Child" not "Infant" thus also attributing that He was older than a newborn baby. Isn't Scripture interesting if you dig deep into it? It's fascinating how God's plan unfolds from the first verse in Genesis to the last verse in Revelation.

Why? did I purchase this coffee pot? Better yet, Why? do I keep it? I do not like it. Marty does not like it. At the time it seemed like a good-idea-coffee-pot, it has the grinder built into the top, has a timer and it all goes into the thermal carafe...or not. We've lost count of the number of times something went wrong: the carafe didn't get put in, the basket with the grounds didn't stay pushed in, it's tubes get clogged. It doesn't have an auto-shut-off if the carafe isn't in or the basket pops out or doesn't get put in all the way...coffee goes everywhere, as do the grounds because the basket overflows when the carafe isn't in place. And cleaning the grinder...it - stays - wet - all - the - time! Oh, and if you don't take the lid off the carafe, it only dribbles into your cup, and if you should happen to drop it on your tile floor, the spout breaks and pouring issues are amplified. Wow, the exterior didn't look that bad until the flash hit it!Why? can't I get this oven replaced? Better yet, Why? don't we push ahead for the complete kitchen remodel the kitchen so badly needs? Well, because we fear. We fear the future. We fear Marty may lose his job. We fear we might move at some point. We fear not finding a good contractor. And we procrastinate. Two procrastinators married to each makes for a whole lot of never-get-anything-done issues. Can you see the bungee cord going from the door handle to the top of the frame...uhhuh, without it, we risk the door falling off, so we open it very carefully and take a stance to bodily hold the door on...makes it fun removing hot dishes, lol. The clock/timer...hasn't worked in the 15.5 years I've been here. The oven thermometer...absolutely necessary, and necessary to check often...temps can fluctuate from 25 - 75 degrees above where you set the dial. Camera flash sure makes every smudge show, doesn't it?Why? have I let these boxes, bags and stacks of paper sit here for, um, let's say a long time in years. One box is Nick's school memorabilia as is the stack of stuff atop the boxes. The other, I think, is Victoria's (or maybe my own) stuff, or not. The bags? well, they're some books I culled off the downstairs bookshelves, to go...somewhere and/or to be sorted. One bag I think is filled with maps from National Geographic. Probably should go through them and see if there's anything I really, really want to keep. I think in the back of my mind, I thought they might come in useful with some of Nick's schoolwork, but hey, what do I know.Why? did I find these pieces of a hamburger on the chair next to the computer Nick uses? 'Nuff said!Why? does this bookshelf look like this? Funny thing is, there's at least 3 more that look pretty much the same! And what do I do with the VHS tapes now that no one wants them? Have you seen the shelves of them at thrift stores? Ugh!! Worse than vinyl LPs.Why? did this guitar not get put away? and still hasn't. Probably for the same reason the folding table never got put away...and that one's mine. And what IS that white blob under the table? Someone's dirty tissue? eewww...the trash can is 2 feet away!Why? are there ALWAYS two pair of dirty socks on the floor in front of the sofa? May be different socks, but ALWAYS two pair! They fit the same feet (not mine! not Marty's!). Probably the same reason those game wires are ALWAYS stretched across the room. The living room has become Nick's 'game' room, sigh!Why? did I not get this packed up with the rest of the Christmas books last year? and Why? does it have that dust outline on it? Shhhhh, I haven't dusted in awhile. and I really want to know Why? Blogger rotated my picture? It was a 1/4 turn to the left to begin with!!!!Why? are these tan silhouettes my family? Hehe, because I had old ancestral photos in it and noticed they were starting to fade and took them out with the intent to photocopy and, well, after I don't know how many years now, I just have tan silhouette family members ;) because it hasn't gotten done.Why? does it still look like this above the entry door? Yeah, you guessed it, it's been years!! again. We had the ceiling resprayed in a knock-down style after encapsulating the 'cottage cheese with asbestos stuff' and Marty had painted the walls bright white in 1998 (they had been Navajo White - ugh, dull/dreary), and then more recently we replaced the front doors. In doing so, the old trim was removed and the new trim didn't cover what the old had...or maybe it had just not been painted to begin with, but now it's obvious. I think it's one of those "I expected Marty to do it." and in reality it's a "Marty never notices it, so if it's to get done, I have to specifically ASK Marty to do it and he'll get to it when he gets to it, or not, or I just do it myself and keep my mouth shut" things, so it hasn't gotten done.

That's my little trip around the house for today. You might pray I don't present another one...no telling what could show up in that Why? episode. Now, on to more fun things :)

P.S. Why? can't I figure out how to get what I write placed next to the photo...I'm truly Blogger-challenged, hehe.

Friday, November 25, 2011

I was going to post some traffic 'rants' for this edition of Fina-Lee Friday, but after coming from my friend's memorial service, well, it just doesn't seem appropriate to rant and complain, so I'll save those observations for another time, and really, while they may come across as rants, they are observations.

I've still not done anything this week quilty, although I got my sewing table cleared off and the dust under control that was covering my sewing machine.

I have worked on one of those on-again/off-again needlepoint projects though. I used to do at-home parties for needlecraft with Artcraft products back in the early 1980s and still have a box of the kits. One project is called "Magi" and is an embroidery of the 3 wise men with their gifts and shows the heads of the camels too. It was issued in 1979, but I got mine much later and at a special price, and didn't begin working on it until Jan 2006. I'm still working on it. I doesn't hurt my wrist to work on it either, so that's a good thing. At the rate I'm going, it'll take at least another 10 years to complete.

Our Thanksgiving day was nice. My 'boys' (Marty and Nick) relaxed all day while I 'slaved', lol, away in the kitchen. It was just the three of us, but I did the full meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing (funny story there! ended up having to make it from scratch!), broccoli, peas & onions, sauteed mushrooms, biscuits, and the 'goody' stuff of cranberry sauce, olives, sweet pickles, deviled eggs and Martinelli's. I even decorated the table with our big Halloween pumpkin, some leaves from the front yard and some fruit from the fridge. It always amazes me that we (ahem, I) spend so many hours preparing this sumptuous meal, and we're done and over with at the table in 30 minutes or less. Ah well, it was enjoyed by all and that alone is pleasure enough...and we get all the leftovers to pick at for several days :) I took many photos of the prep, but will wait and post later when I don't quite have enough words, as if. I pushed myself to go ahead and completely pick down the carcass and bag that carcass and put it in the freezer for soup at another time. Still haven't washed a couple pans and the roaster, but will get to it. All else is cleaned up and was before bedtime...and I slept very well.

We're getting a real heat-wave over the next couple of days. It's suppose to be in the mid-80s again by Sunday :( No-No-No, summer is OVER! bring back my fall weather, please! Thankful it was overcast and cool for Thanksgiving...reminded me of childhood :) And the colors of fall, which are rare and short-lived here typically, are just wondrous this year, what joy that is for this duck out of water living in a dry land.

Today I went to a memorial service for a dear lady named Jean. Jean was one of those wonderful saints of the Lord, the loved being a wife and homemaker and serving her husband, and mentoring the younger women, believing earnestly the Word of God and in the role He had given her. She was passionate about pleasing the Saviour and in seeing younger women strive to that purpose as well. She went home to be with the Lord on the 14th, and today is when her services were. I didn't make it to the graveside service, held at 10 this a.m., but did go to the memorial at the church. Her daughter gave a loving eulogy as did a good friend of mine who has been in somewhat the head role of caring for Jean during the last five years while she's deteriorated from Alzheimer's. Jean is fully well now, and I'm sure the Lord has told her "well done, good and faithful servant". Though I hadn't seen Jean in the last couple years, and had spent little time with her in the last 15, she will always be much loved and remembered in my heart. I will remember the passion and earnestness always emanating from her eyes as she spoke of the Lord and His desire for His children, as she loved Him wholeheartedly.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

May everyone who visits here, enjoy a very special and fully blessed Thanksgiving Day (at least as celebrated here in the USA). May the Lord keep you safe should you be traveling. May He provide you with all that you need during this holiday weekend.

Monday, November 21, 2011

But really, Marty, Nick, and Nick's friend "Tino" left 5 minutes ago to go on a 2-day snowboarding adventure. Marty skis, Nick 'boards, and Tino will be learning to 'board. I'm praying they have a wonderful, safe time. Me, I get quiet solitude :) and I might attempt to do some sewing and see how my wrist holds up. :) :) Otherwise, I'll be spending time here on the computer and watching television and nothing more exciting than that.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Well, I didn't get my Final-Lee/Fina-Lee Friday post done this week. Oh, I had my notes, and I know where they are, but well, you know, l-i-f-e, it just kinda gets in the way.

Back on Monday evening, I was playing around on that social network and saw a post from a friend, that she was headed over to another mutual friend's because that person (Jean) was dying. I became acquainted with Jean early in my Christian walk and she mentored me a little. She had a wonderful way of always turning my focus back to the Lord and to His Word when I bemoaned some issue in life. I had spent time in her home dining with her and her husband Chet. When I married, I was further away and didn't see her often though we would cross paths at church now and then. Chet passed away, and she remarried, and I saw her even less, then that husband passed away too, and well, I was involved in my own life, and she in hers. In her last years though, she was afflicted with Alzheimer's and my good friend "Ruth" (who was also my maid-of-honor) and Jean became close, and Ruth pretty much handled all of her affairs . Anyway, dearest Jean passed into glory around 10:30 p.m. (as I found out the next day). She is now free of the earthly bonds that chained her and we praise the Lord for that; Alzheimer's is awful. I couldn't bring myself in the last few years to go visit her...she wouldn't have known me at that point anyway; it had been hard enough a few times when she had enough clarity and was brought to church, but that had probably been over two years ago. Her graveside, and memorial services are set for this coming Friday and I'll go to those, hopefully.

My lower back & hips have been bothering me a whole lot again, so much today that I was very uncomfortable at church. Uncomfortable enough to be near tears. And I don't know what I did to cause it to flair up again. I know I need to exercise, but it becomes a catch-22, pain when I don't, and too painful to do so.

23 years ago tonight, I was baptized at my church...and it was a Sunday then too :) I remember being fearful about presenting my testimony before everyone in this huge church, but they turn out the lights and you couldn't see but the first couple rows from the baptismal area :)

Watching the Duggar's' trip to England....oh my that's a lot of kids (19), I love my own two, but thank you Lord that that's all I have! and she's expecting again !?!

It rained today. It rained quite alot in a few hours. It rained enough to make the ceiling in my craft room drip steadily, AGAIN. Poor Marty climbed up into the ceiling area again to try to find the source...everything was dry as a bone as far as he could see. So he drilled a hole through the ceiling and stuck a dowel up through it to see from above as to where it was wet. And of course it's an area underneath the ducting for the A/C-heater unit on the roof, and the awful blown in insulation (that's the only insulation in this house and it's the yuckiest, most inefficient stuff (in my book!). So he found the wet spot, but still couldn't find where it was coming in from, aargghh. At least the stash closet is safe from this. I'll try to post pix tomorrow or later.

Marty's taking M-W off work; he has 'overflowing' vacation time at work and is losing it because it doesn't continue to accumulate after so long, nor can he just get paid for it instead. Nick is off school all week too. I should be happy about this, having both my guys home. But I need a lot of attitude adjustments these days. Last year, we went to where my daughter and family live so that I could meet my grandson. We have no such plans this year. Marty had mentioned he might go visit his 85 yr old dad who lives 8+ hours away, but not sure if he will. He's been taking part in Nick's plans with a friend to wrangle a snowboarding trip to some mountains a few hours away now that they have snow.

Need to get out of this chair, I think it may, at least in part, be contributing to my back pain.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

I find hummingbirds fascinating, don't you?A couple of years ago, we had a hummingbird build a nest in a podacarpus tree that is to the right as I look out my kitchen window, far enough that I have to get to the left edge and peer hard to the right. This branch actually extends underneath the patio cover, so it's protected from rain.

I know, this photo isn't very good, hey, it's hard to get a camera underneath those leaves without actually disturbing the nest, and the flash was a little hot too. This shot is from above the nest looking at the two hummingbird babies that were there. Those orangy-looking things at "10:00", they're the beaks...yes, they're orange when they're that small. The width of the nest isn't very big, maybe 1.5" across. Sadly, neither of these babies survived to adulthood thanks to the marauding jay birds...I really dislike jay birds. And crows. Both are nest robbers and it doesn't matter if it's eggs or hatchlings.

This little cutie, not my hand - the hummingbird, is from the mama's second set the following year. The reason it's in my hand is that I'd gone outside, and as I took a step on the unswept-covered-with-leaves walkway near the tree the nest is in, I saw something buzz of sorts on the ground...there was the baby (an only child)! So I had Marty grab his camera and take a picture before we set it back to the nest. We came out an hour or so later and it was gone again and no evidence of it on the ground so we guess it fledged rightly the second time. I believe this was about April of this year, then mama had another set (twins), same nest a couple months later, and we'd watch and one day they were barely on the edge of the nest, again had Marty go get his camera, but I made a move and both just went WHIRRRRR and off to the roof of the patio then went and Marty didn't get his pictures. The nest is still there, so we hope she'll use the nest again.

The hummers are still around, whether the same ones or others. I'd stopped putting the feeder up over a year ago, even before the nest, because we were getting ant freeways going after the nectar. When I was shopping for my stash closet supplies, I discovered a pesticide-disc containing ant-guard that you hang from the hook and the feeder then attaches to it. The ants have to go into the guard and across the pesticide in order to get to the feeder :) no ant problem at the feeder now :), and I've had to refill it after just over a week, and when I did, I got BUZZED by one of the hummers, hey guys, don't you know I'm trying to keep you fed? And it was right there to feed as soon as I stepped away. I stood no more than 6' away while it landed and drank. There are at least three distinctly different hummers. One is quite large as far as hummers go, probably 4" easily, and he had the brightest red chest I've ever seen. My bird book indicates he might be a Broadtailed Hummingbird. The book says the Ruby Throat isn't on this side of the state, unless he's way off course! They're so fun to watch, especially when they try to guard their territory!

Our Modesto Ash tree draws quite a few birds throughout the year. Never nesting, but resting, hunting, pecking, whatever birds do in trees. So this next picture, taken by Marty, shows one of the raptors that often will land on a branch and eat his/her breakfast or lunch or dinner. This is, I believe, a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. They're smaller than some, but gorgeous. I love raptors. They're just so majestic and ooze 'power'. and yes, 'it' was feeding for this picture but I'm not sure that shows real well...probably a good thing.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

OK, I'm trying to figure out the 'pages' feature of this blog business, so bear with me in my learning curve. I need to figure out how to move and/or link the related items to the correct page...I think, lol.

Update: Well, I guess my comprehension of what 'pages' should be and what they in fact are, are two different things, so I won't be adding pages, unless I can find out a way to do what I want, but maybe that requires a different blog platform, or a $ upgrade platform beyond this free set up. :(

This is proof we DO get some fall color here in our area. I drive this street every day to take Nick to school. I was on my way home, after my PT appointment, and the sun was ahead of me so the color doesn't show quite as well as a couple days ago when it was overcast. The color really pops against white/gray clouds.

I was driving while I took these pictures, sshhh, don't tell the authorities.

These last two photos are on the street I live. The reddish tree is a Crepe Myrtle, they're always pretty in the fall. The other tree, still in the process of turning color, is a liquid amber tree - probably has another name but I don't know what it is. It's very pretty and directly in front of our house. There used to be many more of these trees on our street but folks have been removing them over the years. I guess they can be pretty invasive to sewer lines. They also drop round seed pods about the size of small walnuts.

And to think Marty drives several hours each way to get photos of fall color in the mountains, when all he has to do is step out the front door, but he prefers landscape/natural photography so I suppose man-planted trees in the 'burbs doesn't fit the criteria; I'll enjoy it just the same :)